Konhagakure
by Dibria
Summary: A convicts escape from hidden Rain has surprising results for the world at large.
1. Chapter 1

Foreword: A message from the author.

July 3rd 2009 is a date that I think will remain in public memory for a long time, a date that saw a turning point in the world know we all know. It was in response to these events that I was approached to write this book; a book that has now found it's way into your hands.

Of course I have started here with the assumption that you already know the events to which I am referring, an assumption that may be fair as you would scarce be able to buy this book without exposing yourself to the thousands of stories that are bombarded at us daily. But I should start at the beginning, with a retelling of the events that have, only months later, become legend.

On the 26th of June, an event occurred in secret, one that the vast majority of the world remained completely unaware of. A convict escaped from a location known as 'Hidden Rain Village' in the mountains of Scotland and fled under his own steam toward another location 'Hidden Sound Village' in the Hohhot region of China. This in itself is relatively uninteresting, convicts escape with some regularity around the world but it is the nature of these 'Hidden Villages' that causes interest.

To understand what makes them so interesting we come to July 3rd, at which point our convict has made his way into Germany. It would appear, from my understanding, that his route was a choice made based on speed rather than safety, as this took him dangerously close to the 'Hidden Village of Leaves' near Nümberg on the German/Czech border.

It was in München that forces from the 'Hidden Village of Leaves' apprehended the convict, being as they are enemies of the 'Hidden Village of Sound'. The arrest did not however, go according to plan, the convict fought back and a large fight broke out in the streets of München. This was not a fight as we knew it though…

The footage of the fight that leaked onto the internet was grainy, shaky and hard to make out, but what it showed was clear. During the film several supernatural feats where accomplished by those involved, jumping many times the height of buildings, moving faster than the eye can follow and at one point a fireball was blown from the mouth of one of the convicts pursuers.

The internet was immediately aflame with speculation, "It's a promo for a new movie" was a common response, "It's obviously been faked, that's why they made it so low quality" was another. But at the end of the day hundreds of people had witnessed the battle as they went about their day in München.

_This_ was something big.

It was almost a week later that anyone in a position of authority decided to speak up about what had happened, politicians stopped dodging questions as the German minister for defense stood up and answered questions.

The news that followed shocked the world, these 'Hidden Villages' where dotted around the world, some larger than others, and served as mercenary muscle in 'hidden wars' for centuries. The cold war had been an extended battle between 'Hidden Rock Village' hired by America and 'Hidden Lightning Village' Hired by Russia. All the while that visible armaments seemed to escalate with tension, the real battle took place hidden from our eyes.

This all seemed so implausible, how had this remained secret? Who where theses mercenary groups and how did they achieve their miraculous feats?

Well that was where I, and more specifically this book, come in. While the world was still reeling and what little information the governments of various countries allowed to trickle through, I was to be sent into a village and report back to the world what these people where like.

And so, here you hold the result of the year I spent in the village hidden among leaves – I give you what I saw, what I experienced and the impression that it left on me, I give you;

Konohagakure.

_James Michaels,_

_September 2__nd__, 2010._


	2. Chapter 2

I departed my home in south London early in the morning having packed only two clean shirts and some toiletries in my rush. The phone had rung just twenty minutes early, at 04:12 to tell me that I had been given the chance of a lifetime, of course I had heard about the events in München and the aftermath but working as I did as a small time freelance journalist it seemed so distant.

I had avoided all the hype about these newly discovered mercenaries owing to the fact that it would be a hard story to sell, with everyone writing about the same thing how was a freelancer like myself meant to shift a story re-hashing the same facts? I chuckled to myself as I stepped into the taxi outside my door and told him to take me to St. Pancras International train station – the story I had avoided came and sought me out.

The story came to me by way of an article I had written three years previously on the funding cuts to the military. I had, while writing the article, the extreme good fortune to meet a man by the name of General Withers, a kind faced man in his sixties whom had survived more battles than I had heard of. General Withers had taken a liking to me for asking "all the _right_ questions" as he put without "dithering about tax cuts."

Surprising though it may be, it would seem that General Withers not only took a liking to me personally but had researched my other articles and now, three years later, decided to contact me. I remember the phone call as going something like this:

"Hello?" I had asked, blearily wiping the sleep from my eyes and hoping that the reason for a call at this time of night was not due to some horror befalling one of my friends.

"Hello, is that James Michaels?"

"Speaking."

"Hello, It's John Withers here, General Withers, you interviewed me a few years back for an article you where writing."

"Yes, I remember." I tried to sound enthusiastic, a call from a military man at this time could spell a major article for me, I had no idea at the time how major it would be.

"Good, I'm sorry to get you out of bed and all that but I have something of a proposition for you."

My heart skipped a beat, I hadn't had a well-paid article in a while and this could save me a visit from the bailiffs, "I'm listening."

And so the conversation went on, it turned out that General Withers had been put in charge of the reporting to UK citizens about their involvement with the hidden villages and he had decided that I was the man to go to one of the villages to ask questions.

And so I found myself, jumping from a taxi and running for to catch the Eurostar across the channel to France.

***

I remember having two distinct impressions as I entered the press tent Nümberg, the first was that the other reporters all looked better prepared and better groomed than I was, and the second was that the woman at the far end was stunningly beautiful. She watched us serenely through the entire talk as I listened with only rusty GCSE German to rely on to understand what was going on. I understood a little of what was being said, it seemed that only one of us was going to go on to enter the village while the others would only get to interview an ambassador for the village by the name of 'Hyuuga Hinata'.

At the mention of this name the startlingly beautiful woman raised her hand to indicate that this was here, suddenly second place didn't seem so bad, but I wanted to be the one to enter the village. The talk ended and one by one we were led off to talk to this woman, it seemed I had misunderstood and we would all interview her and she would choose who she allowed into the village.

I waited my turn impatiently, I was excited, this was a big opportunity, just by getting this far I had a story that was a guaranteed sell – after all, how many people had actually _interviewed_ a member of one of these mysterious villages?

When my turn at last came I was led from the main press tent to a smaller tent inside of which I was greeted by the same woman and was again startled by her beauty.

"Good Afternoon, my name is Hyuuga Hinata, please call me Hinata, and your name is?" Her voice was smooth as silk and her skin was like porcelain, I found it hard to imagine this woman as having anything to do with the mercenary side of the village and assumed she must work solely as a diplomat.

"James Michaels, please call me James."

She smiled and indicated a seat for me to sit in while taking one herself, "So, James," She said with a smile, "What would you like to ask?"

I thought for a moment, all the others where bound to be writing stories about military prowess and how they've remained hidden for so long… I decided to try a different tack, "Your name sounds Asian in origin, did you migrate to the village?"

Hinata blinked in surprise before giving a small laugh and a broad smile, "You are certainly different aren't you? No I did not migrate, the villages are all based upon the Ninja tradition of Japan, we all originate from there at some point and as such our families have carried their names."

I scribbled this down in my notebook, "So the villages _all_ originate in Japan, why the falling out – the press releases said that the fight in München was between enemies."

She looked at me quizzically, "Why does anyone go to war? Money? Power? Resources? All these reasons and more, though the particular convict was from a village which we disagree with on what you would call a human rights basis."

"Human rights?"

"Yes, many years ago a genius Ninja from our village was exiled for performing cruel experiments on living people…"

"Vivisection?" I cut in.

She nodded, "And worse, he was meant to be executed but…" she struggled for a moment to choose her words, "…he escaped before it could be carried out, he lived and founded Otogakure."

"Otogakure?"

She smiled, "I beg your pardon – 'Hidden Sound Village'."

I nodded, "So you moved from Japan to where you are settled now – why did you choose this area?"

"Why do you live in," she glanced at my press pass, "England?" she asked.

I frowned, "I was born there."

She smiled, "And I was born in Konohagakure, I have never questioned why it is where it is."

I was about to ask another question when she was suddenly standing in the doorway, I hadn't seen her move but she was already pushing aside the canvas flap to look outside.

She frowned as she gazed through the gap, "Congratulations James," she turned to face me, "Looks like you get to come with me."

I was confused, "I don't understand."

She didn't answer though and instead grabbed my wrist as she was silhouetted against a ball of fire.

***

The sensation that followed I cannot describe adequately with words, the sudden yank of my wrist was painful enough on it's own, Hinata clearly possessing strength not indicated by her build, but the accompanying sensations where horrendous. It was as if some great pressure had within an instant been applied to every pore of my body before being released – my lungs gasped for air and my eyes streamed as I fell to the ground.

I heard a male voice somewhere beside me, "How many?"

At first no answer came but I muttering of a word I did not understand was followed by Hinata's voice reporting, "Six, hidden mist."

"Well aren't they a long way from home."

"Indeed," Hinata replied, "They must have found out about the press conference."

As I forced the air back into my lungs I began to make out the blurry shape of a tall man wearing what looked like a modified life jacket, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, "I take it you're the reporter – looks like you got lucky."

I forced my eyes to focus on his face, brown eyes stared back at me, the barely visible spiked ponytail at the top of his head would have given him a slightly comical look if his eyes didn't say hardened veteran.

"Shika," Hinata said, "We need to get moving, they've worked out we weren't caught in the blast."

The man nodded, "Can you carry him?" he asked.

"No, that short jump damn near killed him – I wouldn't want to risk jumping further."

I looked around to see what had happened and became aware for the first time that I was no longer anywhere near the press tent, "Wh…where?"

Hinata pointed down the slope to a smoldering circle of debris about two miles away, "When did we?"

"When I grabbed your wrist, Shika grab him and lets run – we have no choice."

The man nodded and, before I could protest, slung me over his shoulder and took a massive leap into the trees. Apparently he did not take too kindly to my undignified screaming as it was at this point I remember a pain in my neck and then darkness.

***

A/N: Ok so that was chapter 2, I had this idea a while back but then my laptop was stolen and… yeah. I think this idea is reasonably original but if anyone knows of another story like this please let me know as I would love to read it.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to a stinging pain in my cheek and the echoing sound of a slap, opening my eyes and straining to see by the light of the small fire that was somewhere to my left I could make out the face of the man Hinata had earlier identified as 'Shika'.

Seeing that I was awake the man smiled slightly before leaning against a nearby tree and lazily puling a packet of cigarettes from one of the many pockets of his jacket, "Sorry about that," he said tapping a long white stick from the pack, "but your screams were giving away our position."

I pulled myself up to a seated position and mimicked his languid pose on a nearby tree, "I…" I wasn't quite sure what to say, I felt so embarrassed to have to explain away screaming in front of this man.

He waved me off as he returned the pack to his pocket and pulled out a lighter, "No problem, sometimes we forget how scary it can be if your not used to it." He lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply, he noticed I was watching him, "Oh, I'm sorry – do you want one?"

I thought for a moment, "I gave up…" I pondered aloud, as if predicting what I was thinking he began to pull out the pack again anyway, "But I think I could use one right now."

He chuckled as he passed the pack to me, "Yeah, been a hell of a day for you hasn't it? Nearly blown up, pulled through a Hiraishin and carried unconscious for a few of hundred miles."

My gaze instantly snapped up to him, "A few _hundred_ miles?"

He nodded, "We where originally only 150-200 miles or so from Konoha, but being pursued we had to take the long way round."

"Well where are we now?" I asked with no small amount of trpidation.

He looked at the sky and thought for a moment, "Around the Austrian border with the Czech Republic I'd say – I'm not to familiar with this area to be honest."

I stared at him, "You _carried_ me all this way? How long did it take?"

He shrugged, putting his cigarette out on the ground next to him, "I'd say about… six hours or so."

I did a quick bit of maths, even if we had 'only' travelled three hundred miles this made for an average running speed in excess of fifty miles an hour. As I glanced around the clearing I realised for the first time that something was missing, "Where did Hinata go?"

He stood up slowly and stretched, "She went on ahead to fetch reinforcements – she's far faster than me, but I suppose you know that already."

I didn't quite follow what he meant but soon realised his gaze was focussed on my wrist where she had grabbed me earlier. Pulling up my sleeve I was surprised to see a dark bruise in the clear shape of a hand, "What?" I yelled in surprise, and then it all came back to me, how _had_ she gotten me away from that explosion? I had seen the fireball behind her, I had seen the devastation it caused from afar but just how did we get that far away?

I asked 'Shika' as he prodded the fire with a stick to keep it from going out, "Ah that," he responded, "that was a ninja technique, much like the wall walking and fire breathing you saw in that video that leaked out." He pondered for a moment, "No one is quite sure how they do it but the technique dates back to a former village leader of ours, he developed what's called the Hiraishin no Jutsu," he glanced at me, " the 'Flying Thunder-God Technique'" he elaborated.

"Impressive name." I commented.

This seemed to amuse Shika greatly, "Nothing compared to seeing it done, the technique allows instantaneous travel from one point to another, or 'jumps' as Hinata calls them."

"Teleportation?" I asked in awe.

He shook his head, "No, more like…" he scratched his head in frustration, "Look at that tall tree over there," he pointed to a tree some way away, "It's far away right?"

I agreed with him, it was some 3 or 4 hundred meters away, "But if your stood next to it, it's not."

I looked at him blankly, "Of course not."

He nodded, "And that's the technique, you can travel quickly because you're really close to where you want to be – even if it's miles away."

I was baffled, was that supposed to be an explanation? "But that makes no sense."

He nodded, "That's why there are currently only two people that can do it; Hinata, and her husband Naruto."

I was slightly surprised to here that the beautiful woman I had met this morning was married but I supposed it was to be expected. I couldn't help but imagine her at some state dinner next to a stunningly handsome diplomat with bundles of charm and a smile that made women swoon at distance.

I told Shika as such and to my surprise he actually _fell over_ laughing, "Listen," he had told me, "There is a saying in our village; 'shame me once, shame on me, shame me twice, leave me alone Naruto.'"

I didn't quite understand but it seemed to amuse Shika a great deal, still chuckling he made a glance up at the sky and stood, throwing earth onto the fire to smother it, "Come on," he said, "We need to get moving."

I pointed out to him that I didn't much feel like being thrown over his shoulder again and he smiled, "Alright then, you can choose between riding on my back or unconscious."

I made my decision and climbed, uncomfortably, onto his back; there is something awkward about climbing onto another mans back to let him carry you. It may have been a feeling of physical inferiority that I was no where near as capable or that he was about a decade younger than me but whatever the reason – I was deeply embarrassed.

***

We had been travelling for a couple of hours when I felt comfortable enough to yet again attempt a conversation. I had noticed as we had sped through treetops and over house roofs that surely, someone must have noticed us? Was he being a little careless in favour of speed? Now that the secret was out in the open did it matter less if he was spotted?

Shikamaru, as he had informed me was his name as we where setting off, shrugged off this question, "People only notice what they want to, a little light genjutsu and no one is an the wiser."

"What's genjutsu?" I had asked him innocently only to be greeted with a sigh.

"Man this is troublesome, genjutsu are illusionary techniques that change what someone perceives as real."

"Mind control?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "To control someone's mind completely is a very complicated task, to do it would require immense concentration…" he paused to ponder something, as if working out if he should tell me, "There is a clan in the village that specialise in such techniques for reasons such as spying or infiltration - they guard the technique with ferocity and no one outside the clan is aloud to learn it. But even as secret and advanced as their technique is they can only control one person and if their own body is attacked they cannot maintain control."

"So what's genjutsu then?"

He paused again and thought before coming to a stop asking me an odd question, "What am I stood on?"

I looked down and, with a slight feeling of vertigo, observed the telegraph pole he had chosen to stop on top of, "A telegraph pole."

"Look again." He instructed.

I looked down again expecting nothing to have changed but was shocked to see that we were stood on the top of a church spire. I was immediately reminded of a videogame my sisters son loved playing so much in which he played an assassin who climbed such structures before diving off safely into implausibly small piles of hay. My sympathy for the videogame character was immense – this height was nauseating, "A church tower," I replied, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Shikamaru immediately took us on a short trip to the ground where he let me off his back, I wished, I really really wished, that this was the first time I had found leant against a random house in the Czech Republic being sick.

"Not good with heights are you?" he asked as if commenting more on the weather than anything else.

"Why did it change?" I asked as I forced my breathing to return to normal and my stomach to stop churning.

"That," he replied, "was genjutsu, we were always stood on top of the church, but when you first looked I made it look like we were on a telegraph poll.

"And about ten meters closer to the ground."

He smiled, "I didn't realise it was that big of a deal."

I glanced at him and thought for a moment, with all that jumping at height, surely sometimes people missed? "Out of curiosity," I asked, "What would happen if you fell from that height?"

He looked up at the church then back it me, "It would hurt."

"I meant how badly would you be injured?"

He shrugged, "Probably get a nasty bruise or two, maybe a couple of scrapes."

I was about to probe him further when a yell came from the top of a nearby building, "Hey Shika!" I turned my head to see the outline of a broad, muscular man standing next to a dog the size of a small horse, "How's it going?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Not too bad – lost them when we entered Austria, kept heading this way to lead them away from the village."

The man jumped to the ground next to us and I was amazed to here no sound _at all_ when he landed, "No need to worry anymore, the old lady sent Naruto and Sakura to head them off."

To my amazement Shikamaru seemed to wince in pity for our pursuers, "She would have been better off sending Anko for all that will be left of them."

The new man chuckled before turning to me and proffering his hand, "I'm Kiba, I was sent to bring you to the village."

I took his hand, "James." I responded.

He smiled broadly and for a moment I could swear he was but a twelve year old boy, but the image faded quickly and was replaced by an unmistakably battle hardened man. He pointed to the large dog behind him, "This here is Akamaru, he's going to be the one carrying you the rest of the way – figured you would rather ride on his back than mine."

I nodded and smiled, I liked this man, while Shikamaru gave off an air of being practical but lazy, Kiba seemed to be overtly friendly and actually introduced himself straight away.

"Come one then," he said with a smile, "Lets try and get back to the village as soon as possible."


End file.
